Help Needed On Hybrids

[fuzzo]

guys,

seeing all the hybrids around town, was thinking of buying one for the daily run around. what i'm hearing is that hte prius gets around 15-17 per km and the insight does slightly less

any ideas on how the civic does? i'm actually interested in the civic since that doesn't ahve the typical hybrid rear end.

[AsankaAuto]

The Prius 3rd Gen does between 22 - 25 km/l as of my experience. No idea on Civic hybrid though

Edited April 23, 2012 by AsankaAuto

[ramithad]

civil hybrid does somewhat lower than insight. it using same technology and same engine. but civic hybrid is more heavy therefore doing less. insight does around 19-25 depends on driving and civic does around 17-22

[dpbatagoda]

I have used both Prius 2nd gen and Honda Insight. Prius has better fuel economy than Insight when it goes in Traffic. Honda Insight do almost same as prius in long distance travel. Prius is more quieter and has more space than Honda. But Honda is real pleasure to drive, and has better dash board and aerodynamic design.

If I were to use one out of them, I will go for prius given better fuel economy in traffic.

[Californikan]

I would stay clear of the YOM 2005-2009 Civic hybrid. There have been complaints of the hybrid battery performance fading after relatively low kms on those YOM cars. Honda issues a software update in 2010 to protect the battery from this problem. Many owners who got the software update done experienced a significant decline in fuel economy after the software update. Many owners reported going from around 19km/l average to around 13km/l.

In 2009 Honda made a running manufacturing change to the hybrid battery itself as well as the software. If you want a Civic hybrid, go for one that was manufactured towards the end 2009 or later.

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Edited April 23, 2012 by Californikan

[The Don]

guys,

seeing all the hybrids around town, was thinking of buying one for the daily run around. what i'm hearing is that hte prius gets around 15-17 per km and the insight does slightly less

any ideas on how the civic does? i'm actually interested in the civic since that doesn't ahve the typical hybrid rear end.

Fuzzo, looks aside if you want to buy a Hybrid at the moment buy a Prius. It is by far the most the most widely used Hybrid and while I am not sure about Sri Lanka but on British roads you hardly see either the insight or the Civic Hybrid.

[fuzzo]

the numbers i hear from owners are no where close to what is being quoted by most people

i was told by insight owners that they only get 12-15.. nothing more than that..

does anyone actually get 18-20?

[YRD]

Hey..

I have a friend who bought a prius 5 weeks ago.. It came from the car sale with full tank (nice buggers).. Now the car doesn't go out much but last time I checked it had done 563km & the indicator was still over quarter tank remaining with the on board computer showing 18kmpl & 4 out of 5 possible green leaves in the display. Plus the insight has an additional eco mode for more fuel efficiency which had not been switched on preventing the idle stop from working. Switch this on and i'm sure you will get 20kmpl but it all comes down to how much of a heavy foot you have...

However, it is known that the Honda IMA technology while being slightly less efficient than the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive can run with or without the battery.. I know for a fact that if the battery in any Toyota hybrid dies that's it.. You have to tow the vehicle to a garage whereas the Honda hybrid will just get up n go on it's petrol engine. For these reasons, I recommended my friend to go for the Insight. I was initially anti-hybrid but after driving it a few times I can say it has all the right Honda elements & it as fast as my Civic D15B.

Good luck with your purchase,

Yusuf...

[Californikan]

the numbers i hear from owners are no where close to what is being quoted by most people

i was told by insight owners that they only get 12-15.. nothing more than that..

does anyone actually get 18-20?

this thread has Insight driver experiences

http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?/topic/13436-honda-insight-views/

[AsankaAuto]

I have driven more than 15,000km in my Prius YOM 2010. I'm used to calculate mileage per liter every time I refuel (regular gasoline - Oct90) and all the time it came to a close figure which is showing in the on-board computer. Figures I have achieved so far are; In Colombo city 21 - 23km/l and outstation 24-26km/l

[dpbatagoda]

the numbers i hear from owners are no where close to what is being quoted by most people

i was told by insight owners that they only get 12-15.. nothing more than that..

does anyone actually get 18-20?

I have being using an Insight for few weeks and below are the figures:

With AC ON.

Colombo City limits with high traffic: 15Km/L

Colombo - Katunayaka (lesser traffic roads): 20Km//L

Southern HighWay -Colombo to Walipanna: 22Km/L

The figures would be better with AC OFF.

Also I have noticed that the number of passengers don't matter much when comes to fuel economy

Thanks

[fuzzo]

thanks... anyone have any experience with hte civic?

[Watchman]

I would stay clear of the YOM 2005-2009 Civic hybrid. There have been complaints of the hybrid battery performance fading after relatively low kms on those YOM cars. Honda issues a software update in 2010 to protect the battery from this problem. Many owners who got the software update done experienced a significant decline in fuel economy after the software update. Many owners reported going from around 19km/l average to around 13km/l.

HJold on hold on.. aren't you the same Californican who said hybrid batteries lasted 100s of thousands of kilometres without failure...????!?!?!?!!

[ramithad]

the numbers i hear from owners are no where close to what is being quoted by most people

i was told by insight owners that they only get 12-15.. nothing more than that..

does anyone actually get 18-20?

Insight is actualy doing very close to prius 3rd gen. 12-15 estimate is inaccurate or that person is not driving technically.

[ramithad]

I have being using an Insight for few weeks and below are the figures:

With AC ON.

Colombo City limits with high traffic: 15Km/L

Colombo - Katunayaka (lesser traffic roads): 20Km//L

Southern HighWay -Colombo to Walipanna: 22Km/L

The figures would be better with AC OFF.

Also I have noticed that the number of passengers don't matter much when comes to fuel economy

Thanks

Your figures are same as mine

[dpbatagoda]

There are lot of youtube vidoes which describes how to drive efficiently for Insight.

In Honda Insight battery is charged when you are using the breaking or going downhill. This battery power is used when you are doing hard acceleration to give required energy.

Always keep gap between the front vehicle and your one. Hard breaking will loose lot of energy which can be used to charge the battery if you break softly.

When you drive 30-60Kmh in constant speed the car is powered only from battery (you can see this display by changing the info button in your stering wheel) - observere this while you are driving and you will learn how to drive economically. Some users claim very high fuel efficiency by following these guidelines (watch the youtube videos)

Also at traffic the engine cuts down when you break, don't release your break unnecessaraly.

[rover]

Hey..

I have a friend who bought a prius 5 weeks ago.. It came from the car sale with full tank (nice buggers).. Now the car doesn't go out much but last time I checked it had done 563km & the indicator was still over quarter tank remaining with the on board computer showing 18kmpl & 4 out of 5 possible green leaves in the display. Plus the insight has an additional eco mode for more fuel efficiency which had not been switched on preventing the idle stop from working. Switch this on and i'm sure you will get 20kmpl but it all comes down to how much of a heavy foot you have...

However, it is known that the Honda IMA technology while being slightly less efficient than the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive can run with or without the battery.. I know for a fact that if the battery in any Toyota hybrid dies that's it.. You have to tow the vehicle to a garage whereas the Honda hybrid will just get up n go on it's petrol engine. For these reasons, I recommended my friend to go for the Insight. I was initially anti-hybrid but after driving it a few times I can say it has all the right Honda elements & it as fast as my Civic D15B.

Good luck with your purchase,

Yusuf...

The hybrid battery doesn't die suddenly like that. It will give you tell-tale signs like increased fuel consumption and in severe cases difficulty in reversing. So that's when you need to DRIVE the car to the dealer for a checkup.

[The Don]

Hey..

I have a friend who bought a prius 5 weeks ago.. It came from the car sale with full tank (nice buggers).. Now the car doesn't go out much but last time I checked it had done 563km & the indicator was still over quarter tank remaining with the on board computer showing 18kmpl & 4 out of 5 possible green leaves in the display. Plus the insight has an additional eco mode for more fuel efficiency which had not been switched on preventing the idle stop from working. Switch this on and i'm sure you will get 20kmpl but it all comes down to how much of a heavy foot you have...

However, it is known that the Honda IMA technology while being slightly less efficient than the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive can run with or without the battery.. I know for a fact that if the battery in any Toyota hybrid dies that's it.. You have to tow the vehicle to a garage whereas the Honda hybrid will just get up n go on it's petrol engine. For these reasons, I recommended my friend to go for the Insight. I was initially anti-hybrid but after driving it a few times I can say it has all the right Honda elements & it as fast as my Civic D15B.

Good luck with your purchase,

Yusuf...

YRD, when the HV Battery in the Prius dies, I believe you will see a big triangle of death come up on your display, but you still be able to drive the car away to get it serviced. You won't be stranded due to this. The Prius Hybrid system does not require power from the battery continuously and will simply bring the engine on line if the battery does not hold enough charge.

The HSD system is a lot more sophisticated and efficient than the half way hybrid system that Honda uses.

[Californikan]

HJold on hold on.. aren't you the same Californican who said hybrid batteries lasted 100s of thousands of kilometres without failure...????!?!?!?!!

Overall, they do last 100's of thousands of kilometres without failure. Think about the big picture and the global numbers.

About 5 million hybrids sold worldwide so far, most of then Toyota/Lexus. Civic hybrids account for less than 400,000 of the 5 million hybrids on the road. Honda claims that less than 1% of Civic Hybrids have the battery degradation issue.

Can you see that the actual number of Civic hybrids with the issue is comparatively tiny? Yet even though the actual number of problem vehicles is tiny, that doesn't mean I shouldn't advise extra carefulness to someone looking to buy a used Civic Hybrid.

[Kavvz]

Hey..

I have a friend who bought a prius 5 weeks ago.. It came from the car sale with full tank (nice buggers).. Now the car doesn't go out much but last time I checked it had done 563km & the indicator was still over quarter tank remaining with the on board computer showing 18kmpl & 4 out of 5 possible green leaves in the display. Plus the insight has an additional eco mode for more fuel efficiency which had not been switched on preventing the idle stop from working. Switch this on and i'm sure you will get 20kmpl but it all comes down to how much of a heavy foot you have...

However, it is known that the Honda IMA technology while being slightly less efficient than the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive can run with or without the battery.. I know for a fact that if the battery in any Toyota hybrid dies that's it.. You have to tow the vehicle to a garage whereas the Honda hybrid will just get up n go on it's petrol engine. For these reasons, I recommended my friend to go for the Insight. I was initially anti-hybrid but after driving it a few times I can say it has all the right Honda elements & it as fast as my Civic D15B.

Good luck with your purchase,

Yusuf...

'YRD' / 'Yusuf': You meant to say your friend bought a Honda Insight...?

Edited April 25, 2012 by Kavvz

[YRD]

The hybrid battery doesn't die suddenly like that. It will give you tell-tale signs like increased fuel consumption and in severe cases difficulty in reversing. So that's when you need to DRIVE the car to the dealer for a checkup.

Thanks I didn't know that.. Only what the dealer told me

YRD, when the HV Battery in the Prius dies, I believe you will see a big triangle of death come up on your display, but you still be able to drive the car away to get it serviced. You won't be stranded due to this. The Prius Hybrid system does not require power from the battery continuously and will simply bring the engine on line if the battery does not hold enough charge.

The HSD system is a lot more sophisticated and efficient than the half way hybrid system that Honda uses.

Thanks so much for the info...

'YRD' / 'Yusuf': You meant to say your friend bought a Honda Insight...?

Yup.. It's Honda Insight

[b4es5]

thanks... anyone have any experience with hte civic?

I've been using a Civic hybrid for the last couple of weeks. Drove it like I usually do (gear changes around 3-3.5k revs) and it was doing only 8.5 km/l (as per the indicator in the speedometer). Been told I'm not the slowest driver so thought I'll try conservative driving (get the gear to change around 2K revs - painful!) and it seems to be doing around 10.5 km/l. Colombo driving only though. Still pretty dismal for a car that claims to be fuel efficient.

Must say though the pick up isn't too bad for a hybrid. Was quite surprised.

[Californikan]

I've been using a Civic hybrid for the last couple of weeks. Drove it like I usually do (gear changes around 3-3.5k revs) and it was doing only 8.5 km/l (as per the indicator in the speedometer). Been told I'm not the slowest driver so thought I'll try conservative driving (get the gear to change around 2K revs - painful!) and it seems to be doing around 10.5 km/l. Colombo driving only though. Still pretty dismal for a car that claims to be fuel efficient.

Must say though the pick up isn't too bad for a hybrid. Was quite surprised.

Your Civic hybrid probably has the battery degradation issue which results in poor mileage. Honda issued a software update to fix the battery issue, but that software update resulted in a big drop in fuel economy. A Civic hybrid with everything in working order gets around twice the fuel economy that you are getting.

Civic Hybrid owners complain about fuel economy after software update >>>>> http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/08/honda-civic-hybrid-battery-update-brings-fueleconomy-complaints.html

[fuzzo]

just spoke to a friend of a friend who had a civic. he was only getting 9 as well till his battery had died. he highly recommended NOT to buy a civic

[malla]

just spoke to a friend of a friend who had a civic. he was only getting 9 as well till his battery had died. he highly recommended NOT to buy a civic

how much did the replacement cost?